Palan DataRx Files IPO Prospectus to Unlock Global Healthcare Value Through Real-World Evidence

In April 2019, the U.S. FDA issued an announcement approving a new indication for Pfizer’s palbociclib. This approval for male breast cancer was based on data from electronic health records and post-marketing reports reflecting real-world treatment of male patients with palbociclib. The significance of this approval lies in the fact that it marks the first time the FDA has employed real-world evidence to approve a new drug, representing an innovative regulatory approach.

Real World Study (RWS) refers to research in which data are derived from real-world healthcare settings, reflecting actual clinical practices and patients’ health status under routine conditions. Its purpose is to understand the impact of a medical product on the health of study subjects; to identify and quantify the benefits, risks, and outcomes of various interventions using large-scale real-world healthcare data; to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medical products; to identify unmet needs; and to generate insights through rigorous and scientific methodologies to support product value positioning.

Since its introduction to China in 2010, Real-World Study (RWS) has garnered widespread attention, particularly in the fields of clinical medicine and regulation.

On January 7, 2020, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) issued its first document of the year on real-world studies, titled “Guiding Principles for Real-World Evidence to Support Drug Development and Evaluation,” which further propelled the already burgeoning field of real-world research. On July 1, the revised “Measures for the Administration of Drug Registration” came into effect, requiring marketing authorization holders to proactively conduct post-marketing studies for new products. On August 3, the “Guiding Principles for Real-World Data to Generate Real-World Evidence (Draft for Comment)” was released. This policy emphasis has placed China’s real-world research on a “fast track.”

During the pandemic, China launched “new infrastructure” initiatives represented by big data and artificial intelligence. In early April, the State Council issued the *Opinions on Building a More Complete System and Mechanism for Market-Based Allocation of Production Factors*, explicitly recognizing data as a new type of production factor and signaling that medical big data has entered its “second half.”

Value output is a key characteristic of the second phase of medical big data development. Previous rough data collection methods and poor data quality will be eliminated, replaced by high-quality integration, analysis, mining, and more comprehensive utilization of data. The value of data is gradually evolving from summarizing medical practices to supporting medical decision-making and providing all-around auxiliary decision support in healthcare.

From favorable policies for real-world study (RWS) to the clearly defined status of healthcare big data, the substantial commercial opportunities and market potential, along with an increasingly crowded competitive landscape, seem to validate the correctness of Lin Yong’s decision five years ago to make RWS the core business of Paran Data.

In 2015, after fifteen years of advancing healthcare informatization, Lin Yong gradually came to realize that while hospital information systems had accumulated vast amounts of clinical data, these data remained underutilized. Leveraging this data more deeply would significantly enhance the efficiency and quality of China’s healthcare service delivery. That year, Lin Yong decided to embark on a new entrepreneurial venture, aiming to expand applications and exploration in the field of medical big data.

Paran Data emerged as the times required.

Lin Yong is a serial entrepreneur. In 2005, Lin Yong co-founded Kangbojia Information Technology Co., Ltd., and together with his team, developed it into the leading service provider for digital hospital construction among foreign-invested and high-end private medical institutions. It was during the process of handling information software that Lin Yong discovered that previous methods and quality of medical big data collection were relatively crude, with limited application in clinical diagnosis and treatment data, achieving breakthroughs only in a few areas such as tumor imaging.

Driven by the original aspiration to empower healthcare with data, Shanghai Paran Data Technology Co., Ltd. was established, focusing on unlocking the potential value of big clinical data to feed back into clinical practice. At that time, the concept of Real-World Study (RWS) began to gain traction. Lin Yong keenly recognized the importance of clinical data for RWS, and thus rapidly expanded his business from leveraging software and technological advantages for data collection and governance to data mining, thereby enabling third parties to uncover deeper value in data utilization.

As an entrepreneur driven by passion, Lin Yong invested considerable thought into the name and trademark design of “Paran.” Derived as a transliteration of the English word “Palan,” the name pays homage to Palantir, the global leader in big data analytics, particularly for its innovative applications in data processing. Lin chose to adopt the name of his “idol” while integrating the realities of his work in the healthcare sector, thereby creating “Palan DataRx.” The symbol “Rx,” originating from Latin as the traditional mark for a medical prescription, signifies that Paran Data’s business scope is firmly rooted in healthcare. It also reflects the company’s commitment to prioritizing data quality and authenticity, akin to the adherence to scientific evidence-based principles in medical research.

The trademark design is derived from the stylized letters P, D, R, and X, which are closely integrated to form the shape of a cloud. “We aim to focus on the field of medical big data, leveraging cloud computing and data analytics technologies to analyze and process data, thereby extracting evidence,” said Lin Yong. “The uniqueness of Paran Data lies in its dual-engine approach to data processing and data mining. We believe that one day we will not only be able to benchmark against leading international companies in the same field but even surpass them, becoming an industry leader.”

Paran Data boasts a highly interdisciplinary elite team with strong complementary expertise, comprising professionals with backgrounds in clinical medicine, epidemiology, pharmacy, medical statistics, and computer science. This enables the company to deliver greater responsiveness and flexibility in addressing technical challenges and providing customized user services.Currently, Paran Data serves more than half of the leading multinational pharmaceutical giants and has established in-depth collaborations with dozens of major domestic pharmaceutical companies.Accumulating over ten independent intellectual property rights and patents, and publishing more than thirty high-impact papers in international journals, these achievements reflect Paran Data’s capabilities in core areas such as real-world studies of medical big data and data analysis.

How to Process Real-World Data? How to Leverage These Data for Research and Value Extraction? These are the challenges that Shanghai Paran Data Technology Co., Ltd. (Paran Data) encountered when entering the field of real-world research. In the process of addressing these issues, the Paran Data team’s extensive experience in information system construction and its high sensitivity to medical data have been fully demonstrated.

When discussing real-world studies, one cannot overlook the critical element of real-world data. Unlike data from drug development or personal health records, high-quality real-world data offers greater utility value while presenting higher barriers to acquisition. The sources of data for real-world studies are extensive, encompassing various types of information routinely collected on patients’ health status and/or their diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare. These sources include health information systems, medical insurance systems, disease registries, and adverse event monitoring systems, covering massive volumes of data generated through multiple channels such as outpatient services, inpatient care, surgeries, pharmacies, wearable devices, and social media.

In terms of the accumulation of data "volume,"On one hand, Paran Data has chosen to collaborate with major domestic hospitals such as Changzheng Hospital and Renji Hospital. Under the cooperation and supervision of these hospitals, it governs real-world data through clinical research collaboration and artificial intelligence infrastructure development, ensuring that the data is used for genuine scientific research and practical applications, such as AI-supported clinical decision support. To date, Paran Data has assisted large hospitals in completing dozens of clinical research projects, with over ten million patient cases governed.

On the other hand, Paran Data is collaborating with China’s leading data operation service providers to develop and utilize regional healthcare big data. The company has participated in multiple initiatives involving regional medical data aggregation, data governance, and the construction of scientific research big data platforms. Currently, both parties are supporting the data governance and development of four major regional healthcare big data centers.

In terms of data "quality" processing,Paran Data aggregates data scattered across various hospital business systems, including Hospital Information Systems (HIS), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), laboratory and diagnostic testing, and hospital infection control. By leveraging artificial intelligence technologies to clean and process diverse clinical data within hospitals, it converts both structured and unstructured data into unified, standardized models with automated annotation. This enables the data to support collaborative innovation among public health policy agencies, pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers, hospitals, and academic institutions.

The fundamental characteristics of real-world studies also determine their unique role in post-marketing drug research. Paran Data provides services to life science companies across six key areas: pre- and post-launch support during the product’s market introduction, growth, and maturity phases; market access; post-marketing re-registration studies and technical assessments; real-world evidence and insights services; and digital marketing transformation.

It is worth noting that Paran Data has launched its global expansion strategy, targeting overseas markets such as the UK and Europe. The company aims to seek strategic partners, gain firsthand insights into the R&D needs of multinational pharmaceutical companies, and better serve clients by establishing a strong local presence.

Data originates from clinical practice, and evidence must return to it. Lin Yong introduced, “Paran aggregates and governs medical big data to generate evidence through real-world studies, uncover the value of data, and identify unmet clinical needs. Leveraging artificial intelligence and decision support, this evidence and value are integrated back into hospital information systems, which not only optimizes business processes but also empowers clinical practice and the research and development of new medical products, thereby establishing a closed-loop system for continuous healthcare improvement.”

In January 2019, Paran Data completed its angel financing round, embarking on a fast track of development. Currently, Paran Data is conducting its Series A financing round.

Lin Yong revealed, “We hope to welcome more partners who share Paran Data’s mission and philosophy.” In the future, Paran Data will focus on serving medical clinical institutions and life sciences enterprises. Leveraging its artificial intelligence technologies and strengths in clinical research, the company will help partners identify better and more precise novel treatment regimens from massive volumes of real-world clinical data, covering a broader range of diseases and drugs. This will assist life sciences enterprises in unlocking the product value embedded within global healthcare big data. As a solid and dynamic technology innovation enterprise in the industry, Paran Data is committed to advancing the realization of the visionary goal of “Healthy China.”